Every Little Thing
by Downside-Left
Summary: A look at the Riley/Buffy relationship through Riley's eyes. AU towards the end. Riley-bashing, because I don't like him.


Disclaimer: not mine

Title: Every Little Thing

Summary: A look at the Riley/Buffy relationship through Riley's eyes. Riley-bashing. You have been warned. More AU than I originally intended towards the end. You'll see.

A/N: Product of listening to the song Every Little Thing (by the Beatles) and thinking, 'Anybody who believes that is stupid. Who's that stupid? RILEY!'

-*-

_When I'm walking beside her  
People tell me I'm lucky.  
Yes, I know I'm a lucky guy._

Riley grins to himself as he sees Buffy walking by. Just think, a girl that beautiful, that powerful, that… amazing, and she loves him? It's just… it's just incredible. Unbelievable.

He knows that everyone in the Initiative is jealous. They should be! They don't have someone like Buffy Summers in love with them.

_I remember the first time  
I was lonely without her.  
Can't stop thinking about her now._

He finds himself thinking about Buffy at the oddest times: on patrols, while playing basketball, while dragging a Hostile back to the Initiative.

He misses her whenever she's not there, but he understands that she has important Slayer-stuff to do. He wouldn't want to get in the way of that, of her life.

Because he loves her. He really does.

_Every little thing she does,  
She does for me, yeah.  
And you know the things she does,  
She does for me, oooh._

Even when she's irritated with him about something (like that time he didn't like the fact that Willow used to date a werewolf), he knows she loves him. She doesn't say it, but he knows she thinks it. And he knows that she can't be that annoyed about the whole Faith-in-Buffy's-body thing. It was an honest mistake! How was he supposed to know that they swapped bodies? It's not like that kind of thing happens a lot! At least, not in his world.

_When I'm with her I'm happy  
Just to know that she loves me.  
Yes, I know that she loves me now._

She hasn't told him that she loves him yet, but he can wait. She shows it in little ways. The way she smiles at him from across the room; the way she always has his back when they patrol; and there's the sex, of course. _That_ definitely proves it.

He knows she loves him. She doesn't have to say it until she wants to.

_There is one thing I'm sure of,  
I will love her forever.  
For I know love will never die._

No matter what happens, he loves her. He loves this girl with everything he has, and he knows that it's a life-time kind of love. People don't just _get over_ this kind of thing!

He ignores the signs that Spike loves Buffy. Spike's just a vampire, an escaped Hostile. He has no chance with a girl like Buffy. Especially not with Riley around.

But Riley also ignores other signs; signs that maybe Buffy doesn't agree with him about the whole 'Spike-thing'.

_Every little thing she does,  
She does for me, yeah.  
And you know the things she does,  
She does for me, oooh._

Riley doesn't mind when Buffy sneaks out to go Slaying. He doesn't mind when she creeps back in, hours later, exhausted and happy.

Riley doesn't know what's actually going on. He doesn't see that he's slowly being replaced. He doesn't notice the vampire sneaking around, doesn't catch the way Buffy doesn't really seem to argue with Spike as much anymore. Somehow, Riley misses the fact that all the Scoobies, even Xander, are getting along better with Spike than they had before, maybe even better than they are getting along with Riley.

If he does notice, he doesn't really understand.

_Every little thing.  
Every little thing.  
Every little thing…._

He never notices. At least, not until Buffy finally gets fed up with him and kicks him to the curb, replacing him with her undead-lover.

And he can't understand why. He thought that what they had was special! He thought that she loved him! He thought that they had a 'life-time kind of love'!

Apparently he was replaceable. Apparently, she loves the undead-murdering-crazy-thing more than she ever loved Riley.

For two weeks, Riley mopes around, missing Buffy.

Then he meets another girl, named Sam, and starts following her around with the puppy-dog devotion that Buffy didn't seem to want.

Three months later, Riley doesn't care if Buffy screws every vampire she meets (except Angel, because then people might die, and then Riley would have to go back to Sunnydale to stop it).

He has Sam now.

And, after all…

_When I'm walking beside her  
People tell me I'm lucky.  
Yes, I know I'm a lucky guy...._

-*-

A/N: Yay Riley-bashing!


End file.
